Electrostatically atomizing kit for use in a vehicle

ABSTRACT

An electrostatically atomizing kit for use in a vehicle has an atomizing unit in combination with a plurality of differently shaped deflector guides. The atomizing unit is supplied with water and electrostatically atomizing the water into charged minute water particles in the form of a mist to be carried on a conditioned air blowing into a passenger&#39;s room through a blow port. The deflector ducts are selectively detachable to the blow port, and are differently shaped to each other to deflect the conditioned air carrying the mist in different directions in order to effectively concentrate the mist carried air to a particular object or item in the passenger&#39;s room.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an electrostatically atomizing kit foruse in a vehicle, and more particularly to a kit for providing a systemof discharging a mist of charged minute water particles into apassenger's room of a vehicle as being carried on a conditioned air foreffectively concentrating the mist on a particular object in thepassenger's room.

BACKGROUND ART

WO 2008/016180 A1 discloses an air conditioning device for a vehiclewhich is designed to supply a mist of charged minute water particlesinto a passenger's room as being carried on a conditioned air generatedby an air conditioning system of the vehicle. The device includes anatomizing unit with an emitter electrode which is cooled to condense thewater from within the surrounding air, and a high voltage sourceapplying a high voltage to the emitter electrode for electrostaticallyatomizing the water into charged minute water particles in the form of amist. The atomizing unit is disposed to carry the mist on theconditioned air flowing into the passenger's room through a blow portdisposed, for example, in an instrument panel of the vehicle. Such mistis known to contain radicals which remain over a long period of timewhen diffused in a large amount and react effectively with offensiveodors for deodorizing the passenger's room and/or deactivating allergensintroduced in the room. Especially, the mist is expected to deodorize aparticular object such as shoes and clothing of the passenger anddeactivate the allergens adhered thereto. However, the blow port in theinstrument panel is normally designed to direct the conditioned air tothe passenger's face or the body, and is not sufficient to concentratethe mist carrying conditioned air to the shoes, the clothing taken offthe passenger, or an umbrella with water droplets of unpleasant odor.Accordingly, it has been demanded to concentrate the mist carryingconditioned air to a particular kind of the object in an effectivemanner depending upon the kind of the object.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the above problem, the present invention has been achieved toprovide an electrostatically atomizing kit for use in a vehicle which iscapable of effectively concentrating the mist carrying conditioned airin an effective manner depending upon the kind of the object todeodorize the object and/or deactivate allergens adhered to the object.The electrostatically atomizing kit in accordance with the presentinvention is adapted in use with the vehicle equipped with an airconditioning system having a ventilation duct configured to blow aconditioned air into a passenger's room through a blow port. The kitincludes an atomizing unit having an emitter electrode, a water-supplymeans for supplying water to the emitter electrode, a high voltagesource, and a discharge port. The high voltage source is provided toapply a high voltage to the water on the emitter electrode so as toelectrostatically atomize the water into charged minute water particlesin the form of a mist, which is discharged out through the dischargeport. A mist feeding duct extends from the discharge port and is coupledto the ventilation duct upstream of the blow port so as to carry themist on the conditioned air flowing through the ventilation duct,thereby producing a mist carrying conditioned air blowing out throughthe blow port. The kit includes a plurality of deflector ductsselectively detachable to the blow port. The deflector ducts aredifferently shaped to each other to deflect the mist carryingconditioned air in different directions. With this arrangement, it ispossible to concentrate the mist carrying conditioned air to a desiredlocal spot for deodorization of the object and/or deactivation of theallergens adhered to the object in an effective manner depending uponthe location of the object.

Preferably, the kit includes a controller that provides different modesof blowing the conditioned air into the passenger's room at differentvalues of parameter, and a selector configured to select one of thedifferent modes. The parameter is selected from at least one of ablowing rate, temperature and humidity of the conditioned air.Accordingly, the mist carrying conditioned air can be regulated at anoptimum state for effective deodorization of the object and/ordeactivation of the allergens.

Further, each of the deflector ducts may be provided at its downstreamend with a louver for varying the direction of the mist carryingconditioned air directed to the passenger's room. With the provision ofthe louver, it is possible to make a precise adjustment for deflectingthe mist carrying conditioned air to the object.

These and still other objects and advantageous features of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating an electrostatically atomizingkit for use in a vehicle in accordance with a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is schematic view illustrating an atomizing unit added to an airconditioning system of the vehicle for supplying a mist of chargedminute water particles;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a mist feeding duct for feedingthe mist to a ventilation duct of the air conditioning system;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the atomizing unit employed in the abovekit to generate the mist;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating a deflector duct employed inthe above kit to be attached to a blow port in an instrument panel ofthe vehicle;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating the use of another deflectorduct;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the deflector duct employed inthe instance of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view illustrating the use of a further deflectorduct;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating the deflector duct employed inthe instance of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a front view of the blow port;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of a connection of the deflector duct to theblow port.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown an electrostaticallyatomizing kit for use in a vehicle in accordance with the presentinvention. The kit is adapted to the vehicle equipped with an airconditioning system 110 having a ventilation duct 100, a blower 112drawing in an outside fresh air or a room air into the ventilation duct100, and a combination of a heat exchanger 114 and a heater 116 disposeddownstream of the blower 112 to generate a conditioned air to be blownthrough the ventilation duct 100 into the passenger's room through aplurality of blow ports 102 located in the passenger's room.

The kit includes an atomizing unit 10, a mist feeding duct 70, and aplurality of deflector ducts 60A, 60B, and 60C. The atomizing unit 10 isconfigured to take water from the surrounding air by condensation, andelectrostatically atomize it into charged minute water particles togenerate a mist of the particles which is discharged out of theatomizing unit 10 and is fed into the ventilation duct 100 by way of themist feeding duct 70, as shown in FIG. 3, whereby the mist carryingconditioned air is blown out into the passenger's room through one ofthe blow ports 102. As discussed later, the deflector ducts 60A, 60B,and 60C are provided to be detachable to the one blow port 102 in orderto deflect the mist carrying conditioned air in predetermineddirections.

As shown in FIG. 4, the atomizing unit 10 includes a cylindrical barrel12 carrying an emitter electrode 20 projecting through a bottom of thebarrel 12, and an opposed electrode 24 which is disposed in an oppositerelation to the emitter electrode 20. The oppose electrode 24 is shapedfrom an electrically conductive substrate with a circular opening 26which has an inner periphery spaced by a predetermined distance from adischarge end 22 at the tip of the emitter electrode 20 to define adischarge port of discharging the mist. The atomizing unit 10 includescooling means 30 and a high voltage source 50. The cooling means 30 iscoupled to cool the emitter electrode 20 in order to condense the watercontent carried in the surrounding air on the emitter electrode 20,thereby supplying the water thereto. The high voltage source 50 isprovided to apply a high voltage across the emitter electrode 20 and theopposed electrode 24 so as to charge the water on the emitter electrode20 and atomize it into the charged minute water particles to bedischarged out through the discharge port 26 in the form of the mist.The cooling means 30 is realized by a Peltier module having a coolingside coupled to the emitter electrode 20 at its one end away from thedischarge end 24, and having thermo-electric elements which, upon beingapplied with a predetermined voltage, cools the emitter electrode to atemperature below a dew point of the water. The Peltier module has aplurality of thermo-electric elements arranged in parallel with eachbetween thermal conductors 31 and 32 to cool the emitter electrode 20 ata cooling rate determined by a variable voltage given from a coolingelectric source circuit 40. One thermal conductor 31 defining thecooling side is coupled to the emitter electrode 20, while the otherthermal conductor 32 defining the heat radiation side is provided with aheat radiator 36. The Peltier module is fixed between the bottom of thebarrel 12 and the heat radiator 36 with its cooling side conductor 31 inheat transfer contact with a root of the emitter electrode 20. The highvoltage source 50 includes a high voltage generation circuit whichapplies a predetermined high voltage across the emitter electrode 20 andthe grounded opposed electrode 20 to give a negative or positive voltage(for example, −4.6 kV) to the emitter electrode 20, thereby generatingthe mist of the charged minute water particles of nanometer size. Theresulting mist includes radicals effective for removing unpleasant odorfrom the object and/or deactivating allergens adhered to the object. Theatomizing unit 10 is mounted behind an instrument panel 120 with itsopening 14 in the side wall of the barrel connected to take the room airfor condensation of the water contained in the air at the emitterelectrode 20.

The mist feeding duct 70 extends behind the instrument panel 120 fromthe discharge port 26 of the atomizing unit 10 and has a coupling end 72which is configured to be coupled to the ventilation duct 100immediately upstream of one of the blow ports 102 in order to feed themist to the conditioned air flowing through the ventilation duct 100 sothat the mist is discharged out through the blow port 102 into thepassenger's room as being carried on the conditioned air flow. The mistfeeding duct 70 is shaped to have its coupling end bent along theventilation duct 100 for guiding the mist along the flow of theconditioned air. Preferably, the duct 70 is made flexible for easyconnection to the ventilation duct 100. As shown in FIG. 3, theatomizing unit 10 includes a fan 18 which generates a forced air flow ofsupplying the room air to the emitter electrode 20 for condensationthereat and also of feeding the mist into the ventilation duct 100through the mist feeding duct 70 into the ventilation duct 100. In thisconnection, a controller 80 is included in the kit to regulate the fan18 to vary the flow rate of the mist being flown into the ventilationduct in accordance with the flow rate of the conditioned air flowingthrough the ventilation duct 100. For this purpose, the controller 60 isconnected to receive a signal from a speed monitor (not shown) thatmonitors a rotating speed of the blower 112 included in theair-conditioning system 110 to flow the conditioned air through theventilation duct 100, and is configured to drive the fan 18 for flowingthe mist out through the mist feeding duct 70 at a flow rate in matchwith the flow rate of the conditioned air, facilitating to carry themist on the conditioned air for successfully spreading the mist into thepassenger's room.

The deflector ducts 60A, 60B, and 60C are each configured to bedetachable to the blow port 102, e.g., at the left end of the instrumentpanel 120 adjacent to a navigator's seat, and are differently shaped orbent to deflect the mist carrying conditioned air in directionsdifferent from each other. FIG. 5 illustrates one particular kind of thedeflector duct 60A which is U-shaped to the mist carrying conditionedair (hereinafter sometimes refer to simply as “mist carrying air”)toward the floor below the instrument panel 120. Although not shown inFIG. 5, the deflector duct 60A is formed at its one end with a pair ofhooks detachable engaged with a corresponding pair of notches around theblow port. With the selective use of the deflector duct 60A, the mistcarrying air is guided in a concentric manner towards the shoes of thepassengers or the like object positioned on the floor below theinstrument panel 120 for deodorization of the object and/or thedeactivation of allergens adhered thereto.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the use of another deflector duct 60B which isshaped to deflect the mist carrying air towards the passenger's head forfacilitating the deodorization of the hairs while adding humidity to thehairs.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate the use of a further deflector duct 60C whichis shaped to deflect the mist carrying air laterally and upwardlytowards a side window on the side of a navigator seat for deodorizationof a jacket or the like clothing suspended from an inside roof along theside window and/or deactivation of allergens adhered thereto.

The deflector ducts are not limited to the above shapes and may includefurther one of differently shape or configuration, for example, adeflector duct shaped to deflect the mist carrying air downward andsideward for deodorization of a wet umbrella put on the floor adjacentto a passenger's door. Further, it is possible to include a deflectorduct in the form of a flexible bellows capable of varying a direction ofdeflecting the mist carrying air.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, each of the deflector ducts 60A, 60B, and60C is formed at its one lengthwise end with a pair of hooks 62 fordetachable engagement into a corresponding pair of notches 122 onopposite sides of the blow port 102. Thus, the deflector duct can beeasily attached to and detached from a portion of the instrument panelaround the blow port 102. Further, the deflector duct is provided at itsdistal lengthwise end with a louver 64 having a like configuration of alouver 104 provided in the opening of the blow port 102, namely, beingcomposed of an array of vertical slats 65 and horizontal slats 66.

The controller 80 is adapted in use to be electrically connected to anelectrical circuitry of the air conditioning system 110 for controllingthe blower 112, the heat exchanger, and the heater 116 in order toprovide different modes of blowing the mist carrying air into thepassenger's room at different parameters including a blowing rate,temperature, and humidity. The modes include a first mode, a secondmode, and a third mode which are associated respectively with the use ofthe deflector ducts 60A, 60B, and 60C, and are configured to blow themist carrying air in optimum conditions for the deodorization and/or thedeactivation of allergens. The selection of the modes is made at aselector 90 which is arranged on the instrument panel 120 to beaccessible by the passengers.

Although the above embodiment illustrates that the mist generated at theatomization unit 10 is flown out through only one of the blow ports 102,the present invention should not be limited to this particularembodiment, and may encompass a modification where the mist is fed tothe ventilation duct 100 at a plurality of points respectivelyimmediately behind the individual blow ports 120 by use of the mistfeeding duct having a manifold coupling for connection with the pluralpoints of the ventilation duct.

Further, in the above illustrated embodiment, the atomizing unit 10 isconfigured to include the opposed electrode 24 in front of the emitterelectrode 20. It should be noted that the opposed electrode 24 is onlypreferable for controlling a flow direction of the mist, but is not anessential element for generating the mist. For example, the high voltagemay be alternatively applied to the emitter electrode 20 as beinggrounded to a part of the mist feeding duct 70, the room air intake duct80, the ventilation duct 100, fixture housing 18, or any othersurrounding object.

In addition, the atomizing unit 10 may be configured to include a watersupply tank for feeding the water to the emitter electrode 20 by use ofa capillary effect, instead of the cooling means 30.

1. An electrostatically atomizing kit for use in a vehicle equipped withan air conditioning system having a ventilation duct blowing aconditioned air into a passenger's room through a blow port, said kitcomprising: an atomizing unit having an emitter electrode, awater-supply means for supplying water to said emitter electrode, a highvoltage source, and a discharge port, said high voltage source applyinga high voltage to said emitter electrode so as to electrostaticallyatomize the water on the emitter electrode into charged minute waterparticles in the form of a mist, which is discharged out through saiddischarge port; a mist feeding duct extending from said discharge portof the unit and being coupled to said ventilation duct upstream of saidblow port so as to carry the mist on the conditioned air flowing throughsaid ventilation duct, thereby producing a mist carrying conditioned airblown through said blow port; and a plurality of deflector ductsselectively detachable to said blow port, said deflector ducts beingdifferently shaped to each other to deflect the conditioned air carryingsaid mist in different directions.
 2. An electrostatically atomizing kitas set forth in claim 1, further including a controller configured toprovide different modes of blowing the mist carrying conditioned airinto the passenger's room at different parameters, said parameter beingselected from at least one of a blowing rate, temperature and humidityof said conditioned air, and a selector configured to select one of saiddifferent modes.
 3. An electrostatically atomizing kit as set forth inclaim 1, wherein each of said deflector ducts is provided at itsdownstream end with a louver for varying the direction of the mistcarrying conditioned air directed to the passenger's room.
 4. Anelectrostatically atomizing kit as set forth in claim 2, wherein each ofsaid deflector ducts is provided at its downstream end with a louver forvarying the direction of the mist carrying conditioned air directed tothe passenger's room.